A Trendsetting Family

I have very fond memories of my childhood…and like most, I have those incredibly embarrassing moments that were brought on by the quirkiness of my family.  However, my brother and I were recently talking, and while embarrassing, we realized those moments were just due to being ahead of our time…  In hindsight, I come from a family of trendsetters that, while embarrassing at the time, people would now consider “cool.”  Here are just a few examples: 

Suburban:  Our first real family car (other than the 1955 Nomad) was a bright blue Suburban.   While other kids were getting rides to school and soccer in the quintessential minivan, my parents would pick us up and drop us off in D’Burban.  The Blue Beast lasted a few years and we eventually traded it in for a newer model, this time in silver and with the personalize license plate DBURBAN.    We had that suburban until I graduated from high school and, until I got my old school BMW my senior year, I had the pleasure of driving D’Burban to school.  My favorite memories of me and that car were leaving football games on Friday nights in my cute little cheerleading outfit, hoisting myself up into the front seat and instead of waiting for the parking lot traffic to clear out, me going over the parking curve to the street.  By the time suburbans became “cool” ours had over 100,000 miles and the alignment might have been “off”.

Uggs: Well before Uggs were seen in LA on blond haired girls in cut-off shorts, my dad was rocking them each and every surfing trip.  He had a black pair (and to be fair, they might have been knock-offs) and he lovingly put them on after getting out of the water and wore them for the rest of the day.  Whether we were going to the surf shop, lunch, wherever, it didn’t matter, his feet were warm so fashion be damned.  He was so far ahead of “cool’ that at times I refused to be seen with him in public when he wore them.  Once in college and the trend set in, I broke down and reluctantly bought a pair …I now own two pairs and wear them every ski trip and camping outing.  And they are lovely.

Eco friendly bags:  My mother also had her fair share of embarrassment.  Always eco-friendly and environmentally conscious, she refused to use grocery store bags and instead brought her own reusable ones.  This might not seem crazy since every shop now sells reusable bags and it is a sign of “coolness” to support the environment.  But this habit began back in the early 90’s in the heart of my awkward years and well before those cute reusable bags became available at every major retailer.   Her reusable bags, depending on the day, could consist of home-made floral cloth bags, beach bags, or what felt like at times, duffel bags.  Coming from a town where it felt like status was everything, having my mom pull out those bags at the check-out counter was the equivalent of food stamps to my fifteen year-old self.  In current times, you would be shunned to accept a plastic or paper bag… Once again, well played mom.  You have been working to save the environment all these years and people have finally caught on. 

Hispters:  And finally, it had to come to this.  Yes, my brother is an accidental hipster and has been well before they even had a name.  Since 2004, he has been a chef, with tattoos, wearing the occasional flannel, getting creative with his facial hair, listening to random indie music and living in Oakland.  But to be fair, he is a hipster in style, but not attitude.  Case in point, no self-respecting hipster would be caught dead hanging out with a Marina Girl (aka me) and he does so on frequent occasions when we meet up for dinner or drinks.    Actually on that note:  my family was also at the fore-front of the foodie revolution in the Bay Area, eating at great places such as Chez Panisse (for my sister’s 18^th Birthday) and Saigon Sandwich Shop (for my brother’s graduation from culinary school).

Looking back, I am honored to have had such a cool family, even though the “cool’ factor came years after the embarrassment.